The present invention relates to a processing method for silver halide color light-sensitive material, more specifically a processing method for silver halide color light-sensitive material allowing efficient photographic processing with no folding while conveying the silver halide color light-sensitive material in the processing machine.
Presently, compact cameras are commonly used by ordinary users. From the viewpoint of portability of such compact cameras, further size reduction is desired. To achieve this, it is essential to reduce the size of the photographic film housing space in the camera.
Since the photographic film is usually housed rolled around a spool in the compact camera, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the photographic film itself to maintain a given number of frames while achieving such further housing space size reduction in the compact camera. Support thickness is currently about 120 to 125 .mu.m, considerably thicker than the thickness of the light-sensitive layer formed thereon (20 to 30 .mu.m). It is therefore most effective to further reduce the support thickness in order to reduce the thickness of the whole photographic film.
A representative conventional support material is the triacetyl cellulose (also referred to as TAC) film. However, since the TAC film is essentially low in mechanical strength, further reduction in the TAC film thickness results in considerable difficulty in conveying and handling the film in the camera and following processes. It is therefore not advantageous to further reduce the thickness of the TAC film support below that of the currently available support.
Meantime, polyethylene terephthalate, traditionally used in radiographic films and printing plate making films, is excellent in mechanical strength. It is therefore possible to reduce photographic film thickness and hence achieve camera size reduction by using this material as the support.
In processing a large number of photographic films using a developing machine, it is common practice to use an automatic processing machine for motion picture film, wherein the photographic films are tied in a single strip, which is then subjected to a series of photographic processes while being wound at one end and conveyed at a constant speed. The automatic processing machine for motion picture film is characterized in that the film, hung obliquely on a rack on and under which a large number of rollers are arranged, is subjected to developing, drying and other processes while being conveyed in a roll state.
However, it was proven that when developing a thin photographic film described above using the automatic processing machine for motion picture film, there occurs a problem of folding in the perforated portion of the photographic film. Suspected causes of this phenomenon are contact of the photographic film with roller edge as a result of shift to either end during oblique conveying between the rollers at both ends of the rack, and a lack of mechanical strength due to the thinness of the photographic film.
Thus there is a need for a processing method capable of processing a silver halide color light-sensitive material while smoothly and efficiently conveying it in a processing machine with no photographic film folding.